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Annie, Daddy and Sandy: the gang is all here nowAxelâs troops defeated, Punjab would show him howThose brought under cover vanish never to returnNo mercy nor compassion, some killers never learn.Fritz Ann wonât allow it, flashes badge and gunSlaps the cuffs on Axel, his arrest delicious fun.Calling Dick Tracy! Emergency! The lab about to blow!Get to the storm cellar or die watching the show.Axel is a stubborn one, confirmed scoundrel and liarEven deals in human flesh, for everything a buyer.Knocks Ms. Dietrich on the head, takes it on the lamHands still cuffed behind him, takes flight hoping to scram.If he can just grab the notes, secure Kenyonâs concoctionThe bosses shall reward him well, they sell weapons at auction.Axel makes it to the lab, sticks his beak into the roomA blinding light âtis his last sight, the explosion seals his doom.
Great âfinalâ art of Axel! After all this time, I realized his looks have been reminding me of Fagin from âOliver Twistâ (especially the 1948 Alec Guinness movie version).
Now on to the matter of âTracyâs buyerâ & Axelâs âbossesââŚI had thought that if there were any possibility of it being 1944, Axel may have been answering to the Brow (he would have still been around then). Present day, we canât rule out Venus, Meilies, & their crowd.
THOOMM pretty much says it all for todayâs sequence. Unless he is more magical than Punjab, Axel is vaporized by that blast. I will assume that all the Warbucks-Tracy Team, plus the Silos, made it into the storm cellar and will survive. But a lot of townspeople of Simmons Corners may have met their Maker tonight, so we canât exactly rejoice at what has happened.
As I commented a few days ago, why did Fritz Ann and Sam allow Professor Kenyon to continue with his project? Of course, if they hadnât we wouldnât have a great ending to this story. Hopefully the explosion is only contained to the Kenyon and Silo farms.
The explosion will rip a hole in the time-space continuum, and Axel will wake up Terok Nor, where a woman in black leather will order him to the ore processing plant.
So, apparently Axel wasnât the mastermind of this whole thing. Seems he was being held on the island against his will and Kenyonâs notes was his only way to escape.
He almost found a buyer for Tracy, and that could be those who had a contract out on Tracy already, but it means that Axelâs boss is not that buyer. Keeping Tracy on the island was a little side project for Axel.
After the âearth shattering kaboom,â as Marvin the Martian would have called it, or in this case, the âTHOOMM,â I donât think weâll be seeing Axel again ever. Heâll be vaporized. Hopefully, thereâs enough evidence back at the newspaper office to indicate who Axelâs bosses are, but I think we can rule out the Blackheart gang.
1. WOW!2. I hope Team Tracy didnât kill off Daddy Warbucks.3. Notice that Punjab and the Asp are not in the picture. We donât know if they are in the shelter, or if they are doing something outside.4. The same goes for Tracy and Sam. And we really didnât see Fritz Ann getting into the shelter.5. Thatâs Kenyonâs silo getting blown up, not Mr. Siloâs silo.6. We learned quite a lot today. First, that Axel is involved in human trafficking.7. We also learned that Axel is being kept on Thunder Island against his will.8. Explosions in the Tracy universe go THOOMM instead of KA-FLOOM.9. Pequod has a great poem for us today, as usual!10. WOW!
Iâm worried â look closely at the last panel â there are three figures flying off the ground in the face of that explosion! And todayâs art does not show us Tracy, Sam, Daddy Warbucks, Punjab nor the Asp!
Well by golly, hereâs a Hew with a Different View *. . . should we factor in - Blue ?
Does âThoommâ in the Room, really mean Doom ??
What was Kenyon CODE Word to Axel, via Annie ?*Wasnât it simply - â âBLUEâ ? With a note, âclose to successâ ?Plus Annieâs view : âAxel was sure happyâ ! ?
And, as Ray Toler so âaptlyâ reminded yesterday, Mike has a way, (on occasion), of omitting wind-up answers (like, whoâs skulls in the Crypt, in the Sweatbox case ? And we might add, what happened to Blaze Rize ? Never had explanations*/full clarification *! ?So donât mind now, that the code word Blue - tantalizingly matches back to Diet Smithâs Project Blue Image, which we all know is his experimentâs name for
- Time Travel ! ?*And further recall - thatâs what, the Authors âput outâ there to get readers all EXCITED at the beginning ? From Diet Smith, Warbucks and Flintheart !
Today from Axelâs words, he certainly thinks heâs GOING somewhere - â. . . Get off this Island ?â No swimming needed, just getting into the right Bubble, on time ? ;-) And hope itâs not like Alley Oopâs, too far forward or backward in time ?Keenly, Axel - eyes that âbubblingâ Cauldron and as we pointedly note, itâs colored BLUE. Remember, Sunday page colors are done by - the In House Team (special instructions?), and not by GoComics.Whatever the clues or clothing he may leave behind, I suspect Axel will LIVE to comb his Beard another day, in any reincarnation of the Annie strip
We all can âSPECULATEâ, but now, this coming week, as we face - âWrap Upâ time, the Big Question likely is, what further, will we hear on Time Travel - from the Authors ?My guess,, everyone wishes to hear more.
The last clarion Clue was - Kenyonâs BLUE . . .That came early September, will we now get something to remember ? ?
Harold Gray had a policy of not ending Little Orphan Annie plotlines completely happy. I suspect Daddy Warbucks will be severely injured, with his life hanging in the balance. to be resolved as and when a new âAnnieâ strip is started.
If thatâs Daddy, Puinjab, and the Asp that got ka-floomed, then that answers the question of Team T doing a strip on Annie in the future. No way Team T would waste Tracy and Sam; thatâs their meal ticket to another Harvey.
Thanks, PQ! Actually, your fine poetry pointed out something I missed this morning â which isnât strange at all, considering my age! Thanks! Considering that all the baddies have a contract out for Tracy, Axel should have collected while he had him.
THOOMM! Not with a whimper but with a bang. Axel goes to pieces, getting off of Thunder Island with a bit more rapidity than he bargained for. As some had surmised after the laptop chat, Axel was not the boss of the operation. The expenses of sprucing up the abandoned island were not out of his pocket. Clearly there was more for sale than Kenyonâs explosive formula. Axel âalmost had a buyer for Tracy.â No doubt, Annie would have also been on the auction block. Shudder..Love the use and change of colors in the last two panels. Eye catching. Yet another Sunday strip that makes a strong impression. Looks like not everyone made it to the cellar in time. Hereâs hoping none were struck by deadly shrapnel.
I like the way this story switched back and forth between Tracyville and Thunder Island. I agree that there could have been a bit more action, or at least suspenseful close calls, before help arrived. A more formidable side-kick for Axel may have helped in this regard, as Wilhelm was bland. The main variation in the entertaining crossover was how little time we spent with the villain. Many stories focus on the criminal and his or her partners in slime, leaving Tracy off-panel for long stretches. This storyâs approach made sense, as Annie was rightly prominent on Thunder Island. Tracy may have regretted his solo scouting mission, given hindsight, but his inquisitive spirit brought the two leads together. Iâve enjoyed the depth of the lengthy story. Mr. Curtis had a lot to juggle in weaving the dangling threads of the canceled Annie strip into Tracyâs world. Hats off. Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Letâs hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyonâs..
Thanks to VistaBill, cpalmeresq, Ray Toler, Night-Gaunt49, Gweedo, davidf42, starman1948, John Russell (Iâm a young and healthy 55), Chris Sherlock and Morrow for the kind words. Very much appreciated!
Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Letâs hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyonâs.Which reminds meâŚwhen last we saw Diet, one of his inventions was about to blow. I wonder when/if weâll find out whatâs happening with that?
Another fine poetic offering, as always, PQ. By the way, just how old is that cartoon of Annie and the explosion in your comment? It looks like the copyright date is the year 1561.
Thanks, Daniel and mzkdad. The âBoom!â panel is from is from December 16, 1951. Hereâs another explosion from 1946 (Annie is not on the island this time. Whew!).Thanks for the tip, Ray. I will try to get to that. It looks good and I know the set design will be first-rate. I had the pleasure of seeing Dustin Hoffman at the Blackstone in Millerâs Death of a Salesman, years ago.
There may have been a small, one-person blast shelter in the professorâs laboratory. After all, Kenyon would have had to test his concoctions without blowing himself to bits. Axel could have used it to escape death. In addition, with the money used to set up the faux town, it is conceivable that some sort of secret tunnel system connected Kenyonâs lab with Axelâs newspaper office. However, we shall see what happens. I am only speculating.
Hello, gang! My first ever post here. Dick Tracy has forever been my favorite comic strip of all time. As for this current storyline, fantastic! A tag team of comic strip powerhouses in one story.
Pequod over 10 years ago
Annie, Daddy and Sandy: the gang is all here nowAxelâs troops defeated, Punjab would show him howThose brought under cover vanish never to returnNo mercy nor compassion, some killers never learn.Fritz Ann wonât allow it, flashes badge and gunSlaps the cuffs on Axel, his arrest delicious fun.Calling Dick Tracy! Emergency! The lab about to blow!Get to the storm cellar or die watching the show.Axel is a stubborn one, confirmed scoundrel and liarEven deals in human flesh, for everything a buyer.Knocks Ms. Dietrich on the head, takes it on the lamHands still cuffed behind him, takes flight hoping to scram.If he can just grab the notes, secure Kenyonâs concoctionThe bosses shall reward him well, they sell weapons at auction.Axel makes it to the lab, sticks his beak into the roomA blinding light âtis his last sight, the explosion seals his doom.
bmj2k2 over 10 years ago
Great one tonight!
Vista Bill Raley and Comet⢠over 10 years ago
Good morning guys!
Coulda been worse,,, it could have been a âfloooom!â
cpalmeresq over 10 years ago
Great âfinalâ art of Axel! After all this time, I realized his looks have been reminding me of Fagin from âOliver Twistâ (especially the 1948 Alec Guinness movie version).
cpalmeresq over 10 years ago
Now on to the matter of âTracyâs buyerâ & Axelâs âbossesââŚI had thought that if there were any possibility of it being 1944, Axel may have been answering to the Brow (he would have still been around then). Present day, we canât rule out Venus, Meilies, & their crowd.
cpalmeresq over 10 years ago
And finally⌠THERE GOES THE SILOâS SILO!
PatrickDC202 over 10 years ago
Thatâs why Axel canât have nice things.
PatrickDC202 over 10 years ago
The Blackhearts/Venus = bosses & buyers?
PatrickDC202 over 10 years ago
OrâŚthe Buyer for Tracy was that mechanical villain who blew up the boat the Asp & Punjab were last seen on?
PatrickDC202 over 10 years ago
Xaxos?
Vista Bill Raley and Comet⢠over 10 years ago
At least Kenyon closed the door and locked it as he ran from the house!
Sisyphos over 10 years ago
THOOMM pretty much says it all for todayâs sequence. Unless he is more magical than Punjab, Axel is vaporized by that blast. I will assume that all the Warbucks-Tracy Team, plus the Silos, made it into the storm cellar and will survive. But a lot of townspeople of Simmons Corners may have met their Maker tonight, so we canât exactly rejoice at what has happened.
W H H over 10 years ago
So did Daddy make it to the shelter?
Larry L Stout over 10 years ago
As I commented a few days ago, why did Fritz Ann and Sam allow Professor Kenyon to continue with his project? Of course, if they hadnât we wouldnât have a great ending to this story. Hopefully the explosion is only contained to the Kenyon and Silo farms.
coratelli over 10 years ago
Wow!
AKHenderson Premium Member over 10 years ago
The explosion will rip a hole in the time-space continuum, and Axel will wake up Terok Nor, where a woman in black leather will order him to the ore processing plant.
Neil Wick over 10 years ago
So, apparently Axel wasnât the mastermind of this whole thing. Seems he was being held on the island against his will and Kenyonâs notes was his only way to escape.
He almost found a buyer for Tracy, and that could be those who had a contract out on Tracy already, but it means that Axelâs boss is not that buyer. Keeping Tracy on the island was a little side project for Axel.
After the âearth shattering kaboom,â as Marvin the Martian would have called it, or in this case, the âTHOOMM,â I donât think weâll be seeing Axel again ever. Heâll be vaporized. Hopefully, thereâs enough evidence back at the newspaper office to indicate who Axelâs bosses are, but I think we can rule out the Blackheart gang.
davidf42 over 10 years ago
1. WOW!2. I hope Team Tracy didnât kill off Daddy Warbucks.3. Notice that Punjab and the Asp are not in the picture. We donât know if they are in the shelter, or if they are doing something outside.4. The same goes for Tracy and Sam. And we really didnât see Fritz Ann getting into the shelter.5. Thatâs Kenyonâs silo getting blown up, not Mr. Siloâs silo.6. We learned quite a lot today. First, that Axel is involved in human trafficking.7. We also learned that Axel is being kept on Thunder Island against his will.8. Explosions in the Tracy universe go THOOMM instead of KA-FLOOM.9. Pequod has a great poem for us today, as usual!10. WOW!
Ken in Ohio over 10 years ago
Iâm worried â look closely at the last panel â there are three figures flying off the ground in the face of that explosion! And todayâs art does not show us Tracy, Sam, Daddy Warbucks, Punjab nor the Asp!
SYDNEY PHILLIPS over 10 years ago
Well by golly, hereâs a Hew with a Different View *. . . should we factor in - Blue ?
Does âThoommâ in the Room, really mean Doom ??
What was Kenyon CODE Word to Axel, via Annie ?*Wasnât it simply - â âBLUEâ ? With a note, âclose to successâ ?Plus Annieâs view : âAxel was sure happyâ ! ?
And, as Ray Toler so âaptlyâ reminded yesterday, Mike has a way, (on occasion), of omitting wind-up answers (like, whoâs skulls in the Crypt, in the Sweatbox case ? And we might add, what happened to Blaze Rize ? Never had explanations*/full clarification *! ?So donât mind now, that the code word Blue - tantalizingly matches back to Diet Smithâs Project Blue Image, which we all know is his experimentâs name for
- Time Travel ! ?*And further recall - thatâs what, the Authors âput outâ there to get readers all EXCITED at the beginning ? From Diet Smith, Warbucks and Flintheart !Today from Axelâs words, he certainly thinks heâs GOING somewhere - â. . . Get off this Island ?â No swimming needed, just getting into the right Bubble, on time ? ;-) And hope itâs not like Alley Oopâs, too far forward or backward in time ?Keenly, Axel - eyes that âbubblingâ Cauldron and as we pointedly note, itâs colored BLUE. Remember, Sunday page colors are done by - the In House Team (special instructions?), and not by GoComics.Whatever the clues or clothing he may leave behind, I suspect Axel will LIVE to comb his Beard another day, in any reincarnation of the Annie strip
We all can âSPECULATEâ, but now, this coming week, as we face - âWrap Upâ time, the Big Question likely is, what further, will we hear on Time Travel - from the Authors ?My guess,, everyone wishes to hear more.
The last clarion Clue was - Kenyonâs BLUE . . .That came early September, will we now get something to remember ? ?
Starman1948 over 10 years ago
Good morning DT and Annie fans. Very good poem Pequod77! Have a blessed Lordâs Day.
MJ Premium Member over 10 years ago
It was while you were asleep last night.
Paul1963 over 10 years ago
Doesnât âDaddyâ Warbucks have a history of appearing to have been killed, and then turning up alive months later?
Can't Sleep over 10 years ago
Spectacular art today â especially the colors in those last two panels!
jrankin1959 over 10 years ago
Nice cliffhanger!
SKJAM! Premium Member over 10 years ago
Harold Gray had a policy of not ending Little Orphan Annie plotlines completely happy. I suspect Daddy Warbucks will be severely injured, with his life hanging in the balance. to be resolved as and when a new âAnnieâ strip is started.
Morrow Cummings over 10 years ago
If thatâs Daddy, Puinjab, and the Asp that got ka-floomed, then that answers the question of Team T doing a strip on Annie in the future. No way Team T would waste Tracy and Sam; thatâs their meal ticket to another Harvey.
Chris Sherlock over 10 years ago
Well, thatâs one way to get off the island, AxelâŚ
Morrow Cummings over 10 years ago
Thanks, PQ! Actually, your fine poetry pointed out something I missed this morning â which isnât strange at all, considering my age! Thanks! Considering that all the baddies have a contract out for Tracy, Axel should have collected while he had him.
abdullahbaba999 over 10 years ago
THOOMMâŚ..
Pequod over 10 years ago
THOOMM! Not with a whimper but with a bang. Axel goes to pieces, getting off of Thunder Island with a bit more rapidity than he bargained for. As some had surmised after the laptop chat, Axel was not the boss of the operation. The expenses of sprucing up the abandoned island were not out of his pocket. Clearly there was more for sale than Kenyonâs explosive formula. Axel âalmost had a buyer for Tracy.â No doubt, Annie would have also been on the auction block. Shudder..Love the use and change of colors in the last two panels. Eye catching. Yet another Sunday strip that makes a strong impression. Looks like not everyone made it to the cellar in time. Hereâs hoping none were struck by deadly shrapnel.
I like the way this story switched back and forth between Tracyville and Thunder Island. I agree that there could have been a bit more action, or at least suspenseful close calls, before help arrived. A more formidable side-kick for Axel may have helped in this regard, as Wilhelm was bland. The main variation in the entertaining crossover was how little time we spent with the villain. Many stories focus on the criminal and his or her partners in slime, leaving Tracy off-panel for long stretches. This storyâs approach made sense, as Annie was rightly prominent on Thunder Island. Tracy may have regretted his solo scouting mission, given hindsight, but his inquisitive spirit brought the two leads together. Iâve enjoyed the depth of the lengthy story. Mr. Curtis had a lot to juggle in weaving the dangling threads of the canceled Annie strip into Tracyâs world. Hats off. Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Letâs hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyonâs..
Thanks to VistaBill, cpalmeresq, Ray Toler, Night-Gaunt49, Gweedo, davidf42, starman1948, John Russell (Iâm a young and healthy 55), Chris Sherlock and Morrow for the kind words. Very much appreciated!
Chris Sherlock over 10 years ago
Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Letâs hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyonâs.Which reminds meâŚwhen last we saw Diet, one of his inventions was about to blow. I wonder when/if weâll find out whatâs happening with that?
Daniel Quilp over 10 years ago
Another fine poetic offering, as always, PQ. By the way, just how old is that cartoon of Annie and the explosion in your comment? It looks like the copyright date is the year 1561.
Pequod over 10 years ago
Thanks, Daniel and mzkdad. The âBoom!â panel is from is from December 16, 1951. Hereâs another explosion from 1946 (Annie is not on the island this time. Whew!).Thanks for the tip, Ray. I will try to get to that. It looks good and I know the set design will be first-rate. I had the pleasure of seeing Dustin Hoffman at the Blackstone in Millerâs Death of a Salesman, years ago.
3pibgorn9 over 10 years ago
Well, he got off the island.
Morrow Cummings over 10 years ago
Wouldnât it be nice if Mike and/or Joe would answer some of our questions? Only THEY know the answers! Or, maybe not!
K M over 10 years ago
So I guess tomorrow weâll find Axel parts scattered over four or five states and maybe a Canadian territory or two?
Ray Toler over 10 years ago
There may have been a small, one-person blast shelter in the professorâs laboratory. After all, Kenyon would have had to test his concoctions without blowing himself to bits. Axel could have used it to escape death. In addition, with the money used to set up the faux town, it is conceivable that some sort of secret tunnel system connected Kenyonâs lab with Axelâs newspaper office. However, we shall see what happens. I am only speculating.
Ray Toler over 10 years ago
It actually looks like Axel is standing behind some sort of blast wall.
GulliverArkham over 10 years ago
Well, he did get off the island.
countoftowergrove over 10 years ago
âThoom!â Kinda reminds me of Locherâs âFloom!â
Mister Rogue Sgallery over 10 years ago
Hello, gang! My first ever post here. Dick Tracy has forever been my favorite comic strip of all time. As for this current storyline, fantastic! A tag team of comic strip powerhouses in one story.
Pequod about 8 years ago
Annie, Daddy and Sandy: the gang is all here now
Axelâs troops defeated, Punjab would show him how
Those brought under cover vanish never to return
No mercy nor compassion, some killers never learn.
Fritz Ann wonât allow it, flashes badge and gun
Slaps the cuffs on Axel, his arrest delicious fun.
Calling Dick Tracy! Emergency! The lab about to blow!
Get to the storm cellar or die watching the show.
Axel is a stubborn one, confirmed scoundrel and liar
Even deals in human flesh, for everything a buyer.
Knocks Ms. Dietrich on the head, takes it on the lam
Hands still cuffed behind him, takes flight hoping to scram.
If he can just grab the notes, secure Kenyonâs concoction
The bosses shall reward him well, they sell weapons at auction.
Axel makes it to the lab, sticks his beak into the room
A blinding light âtis his last sight, the explosion seals his doom.